SF Giants pitchers appear to be protesting team's Pride Night

[Duncan Grant]

Multiple SF Giants pitchers appear to be protesting team's Pride Night


San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp throws to a Chicago Cubs batter during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 12, 2026, in San Francisco.
(Scott Marshall/AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

*Please note Bible scripture referenced on the front panel of Roupp’s cap*

The San Francisco Giants have worn rainbow-colored hats on their annual celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community since 2021. But when Pride Night came to Oracle Park for 2026 on Friday, four of the five pitchers the Giants used in the game doctored their uniforms in what has been become an increasingly common form of protest from MLB players.

Giants starter Landon Roupp and relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker had verses from the Bible written on their hats, with Roupp and Brubaker writing on the front panels of the hat next to the rainbow-colored SF logo, while Walker wrote his on the side of his hat. Left-handed reliever Sam Hentges didn’t wear the rainbow hat at all, sticking with the usual orange SF logo hat that the team otherwise wears…

Given the volume of Giants pitchers who either didn’t wear the rainbow-colored hat or wrote a Bible verse on it, it sure appears to have been a protest effort from multiple players. After the Giants lost 5-1, Roupp told reporters…, “There’s no hate at all. It’s just what I stand for and what I stand on.”

If Roupp and the other Giants were writing this message on their hats every single night, that wouldn’t be as big a deal. But to do it on the only night the team celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community sure makes it appear to be a protest, whether they will say it is or not.

This story may not mean anything to you, but it gets under my skin. I held season tickets with the Giants for 10 years. Although there are queer people in the Giants organization, none of them are on the field. This holier-than-thou stunt tells you why. If your team is doing this passive-aggressive bullsh*t — BOYCOTT THEM. Let the organization be financially supported by Christian “love” and their enablers. This sanctimonious grandstanding won’t go over well here. I do wonder if moderate Democrat, Mayor Lurie, will avoid the controversy entirely. Let’s see what happens.